Miami Open: Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff shown the door

Miami, March 26

Iga Swiatek’s hopes of landing another ‘Sunshine Double’ ended in a 6-4 6-2 fourth round loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova on Monday as the world No. 1 joined third seed Coco Gauff in making an early exit from the Miami Open.

Swiatek, who won the first leg of the Sunshine Double at Indian Wells earlier this month, was completely outplayed by the Russian world No. 16, who claimed the biggest win of her career. “I just went out on the court and did my best, I think it went quite well,” said Alexandrova.

Bopanna-Ebden advance to quarterfinals

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Rohan Boppana and Australia’s Matthew Ebden moved to the men’s doubles quarterfinals of the Miami Open with a hard-fought win against Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski. Top seeds Bopanna and Ebden toiled for one hour, 39 minutes before pulling off a 7-5 7-6(3) in the second round. PTI

Top seed Swiatek never broke Alexandrova’s serve and had no answer to her powerful and precise groundstrokes under the lights. Alexandrova, seeded 14th, will next face fifth seed Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals after she overcame fellow American Emma Navarro 7-6(1) 6-3.

Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia’s serve was clicking early in her battle against Gauff and she never faced a break point in the opening set before the American raised her level to even the affair at a set apiece.

In the first game of the deciding set, Garcia fended off four break points to hold serve and broke at love to take a 2-0 lead she would not relinquish against her 20-year-old opponent. Next up for Garcia is Danielle Collins, who beat Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-2. Fourth seed Elena Rybakina powered past Madison Keys 6-3 7-5 and will next meet a well-rested Maria Sakkari after the Greek eighth seed got a walkover into the quarterfinals.

Alcaraz, Zverev win

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz dominated Gael Monfils 6-2 6-4 and fourth seed Alexander Zverev escaped a tight first set en route to a 7-6(4) 6-3 win over Christopher Eubanks to reach the last-16. Alcaraz is on a quest to capture the ‘Sunshine Double’ after his triumph at Indian Wells and the 20-year-old was never really threatened in a match-up of two of the game’s most entertaining players.

Brazilian football player Neymar, Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler and former Grand Slam champion Juan Martin del Potro were among those on hand for the contest.

“It’s kind of difficult to stay focused on the match, having such legends from every sport,” Alcaraz said.

Zverev limited his unforced errors, converted his two break point opportunities and saved four of the five break points he faced before closing out the one hour and 44-minute contest with a forehand volley. — Reuters